Although injecting glutathione can give you quick and easy skin lightening results it is not exactly safe. For safer results use a skin lightening chemical peel.
When it comes to your skin you should always do thorough research before applying any product. After all, your skin can react badly to certain harsh ingredients and the last thing that you would want to do is to ruin it. This is true for all skincare products but the importance cannot be stressed enough when it comes to skin whitening products.
Depending on where you are in the world there are different regulations about what can and cannot be used in skin whitening products. For example, in Britain hydroquinone can only be prescribed over the counter and cannot be used in commercial products.
One trend that is gaining traction in the world of skin whitening is chemical peels. Typically used to help remove dead skin cells in most facial treatments, chemical peels for skin whitening are becoming more and more popular. But, are they better than the more traditional method of using glutathione?
Are chemical peels better than glutathione?
The answer to this question depends on your goals. If you want to lighten your skin as quickly as possible then using glutathione is the way to go as you can often see the results immediately. However, there have been health risks associated with using glutathione and so if you are planning to keep the results for a long time then you should consider chemical peels as the better option.
Chemical peels will often take a few rounds before you can notice a significant difference in the tone of your skin and if you need your results quickly or simply do not have the patience for the results of the chemical peels to become visible. However, there are different ways to administer glutathione and this can also make a difference.
When it comes to glutathione there are pills as well as injections that you can have. Although this ingredient is natural many people are still skeptical when it comes to the safety aspect of putting it into your body. This is because over the years many pharmaceutical companies have picked up on the trend and used the ingredient in skin lightening products without much concern for the health risks.
However, much more is known about chemical peels, how they work and why. So, for this reason, many people will consider chemical peels a much safer option for lightening your skin rather than injecting glutathione.
However, if you are opting to use a topical or edible form of glutathione then this has been around long enough for us to know that it is safe to use. So, just be wary about glutathione injections.
What is glutathione?
Glutathione is a naturally occurring antioxidant that can be found in skin cells and helps to boost immunity, neutralizes free radicals and even helps to detox your body. However, despite all of these great properties it has become known for helping to lighten your skin.
Glutathione lightens your skin by altering the amount of melanin that your skin produces, much like many other skin lightening products. It does this by deactivating the enzyme “tyrosinase” which is the enzyme that produces melanin. By altering this, glutathione helps to change your melanin to a light color and hence your skin will appear lighter as a result.
How is glutathione administered?
There are several different way that glutathione is administered for the purpose of lightening skin: orally, topically, or by injection. Although oral and topic versions of glutathione have been around for a long time, the method of injecting the antioxidant into the body is fairly new by comparison.
However, it has been growing steadily in its popularity because it works very quickly and is very effective. The problem with the short time span of the method is that is has not been long enough to consider it safe.
Whereas oral and topical versions of glutathione have been used for medicinal use for a long time, and hence we can say with a degree of certainty that they are safe to use, the same cannot be said for intravenous methods of administration.
Is glutathione safe?
Just because it has not been long enough to deem the intravenous method safe does not mean that it is necessarily dangerous. In fact, it may be safer than the oral and topic versions, but the fact of the matter is that we still do not know.
It may be safe, it may not be and that should not be a risk that you are willing to take with both your skin and your body.
One of the main concerns with injecting glutathione is that you, as a client, cannot always be sure exactly what is being put into your body.
In most cases the chances are that the nurse or doctor administering your IV has measured the dose correctly, but in certain parts of the world there have been stories of people mixing the glutathione with other liquids in order to reduce the amount used.
In this case you run the risk of putting unknown substances into your body or the wrong dose.
If your IV is not administered by a practitioner, but rather than aesthetician, then this can also be very dangerous as if not done properly you run the risk of having air pumped into your blood stream. Air bubbles in the blood stream can lead to an embolism and can even be fatal.
It is worth noting that the FDA has still not approved any injectable product for skin lightening use.
What are chemical peels for skin lightening?
A chemical peel is a popular technique used in facials that helps to promote new skin growth by using a chemical solution to remove the top layer of skin. Using this method can help to remove scars, lighten dark spots and give your face a fresh feel.
When it comes to chemical peels for skin lightening chemical agents are included that help to reduce the amount of melanin that your skin produces. There is no single process for skin lightening chemical peels and the exact ingredients, time and layers can vary from practitioner to practitioner. So, for that reason it is important that you do your research on a particular branch or aesthetician before attending your appointment.
Before having a chemical peel to lighten your skin you should use a topical cream to help prepare your skin for the treatment. This will both help your skin to stay healthy, reducing the risk of unwanted side effects, as well as give you the best results possible.
There are three different types of chemical peel: superficial, medium depth and deep. Each of these refers to a level of penetration into the skin. After superficial chemical peels the skin usually takes around one week to heal as only the outer layers of skin were affected. Medium depth peels will take one to two weeks to heal and deep peels will take two to three weeks.
Are chemical peels safe?
Like with any use of chemicals on the skin there are risks involved. Exactly how safe a chemical peel is will depend on the exact ingredients, conditions under which it was used as well as how deeply it penetrates your skin. With superficial chemical peels there is less risk than with deep peels.
You will notice better results using a deep chemical peel for skin whitening as it will remove any age spots, sun damage as well as reduce the amount of melanin that your skin cells produce. The effects of this procedure can even last up to ten years but also run the risk of inflammation which could possibly worsen your pigmentation.
Conclusion
When it comes to any skin whitening products there are always some risks, even if it is just irritation. There is no way to know exactly how your skin will react without testing the product on a small patch of skin.
However, it is worth keeping in mind that even though a method will give you great results in a short amount of time it does not always mean that it is better.
This example here between chemical peels and glutathione is a great example of this. Administering glutathione in an IV has shown to be better for whitening skin, but it has not been around long enough for us to weigh this against any health risks and as such it is not approved by many authorities.
So, in short, yes glutathione is better for whitening skin but it is not necessarily the safest method.
Instead it is better to use a deeply penetrating chemical peel as this will give you long-lasting results and lighter skin but without the unknown health risks. Chemical peels have been around long enough in the industry that we know the only risk of this method is irritation from the use of chemicals.